A north-east official has been jailed for offering to take cash to reduce the valuation of homes being sold off under Right to Buy.
Desmond Tough, a gambling addict who lost £40,000 of family savings, carried out the scam for six months from December 2014.
In his role with the Valuations Office Agency he was asked by Aberdeen City Council and the Grampian Housing Association to calculate the price of properties being sold off to their occupants.
On eight occasions he went to inspect the properties before sending a message to the prospective buyers offering to knock down the price in exchange for a sum of money.
The amounts asked for varied from £75 to £500.
The houses involved were on School Drive, Stewart Crescent, West Cairncry Road, Great Northern Road, Bedford Avenue and St Ninnian’s Court.
Numerous people he approached contacted the legal teams of the city council and housing association and Mr Tough was eventually questioned by police in July 2016.
He confessed to eight charges of bribery last month and returned to Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday to be sentenced.
Fiscal depute John Richardson said: “He replied to all of the charges ‘I’m guilty’ during his interview with the police.”
After his first appearance in court the Valuation Office Agency confirmed he had been sacked after the revelations came to light.
Representing Tough, of Cannon Court in Stonehaven, defence agent Stuart Murray said it was an “amateurish undertaking doomed to fail.”
He also revealed the personal difficulties his client had encountered prior to these actions.
He said: “His marriage broke down in March 2014.
“Mr Tough gambled away a considerable amount of family savings, in excess of £40,000.
“He no longer sees his wife or his two teenage children.
“This was an amateurish undertaking and from the outset it was doomed to fail.
“He made no great effort to cover his tracks.”
Sheriff William Summers, imposing a sentence, said: “This was a course of conduct which was systematic, planned and executed between December 2014 and May 2015.
“Because of the breach of public trust there is no alternative to a custodial sentence.”
He jailed the 51-year-old for 18 months.
